NCDOT preparing for traffic shift on Independence Boulevard in Mecklenburg County

Friday, June 07, 2013

Striping work is scheduled to start Sunday night

CHARLOTTE- The N.C. Department of Transportation will continue work on the widening of Independence Boulevard (U.S. 74) in Charlotte at 8 p.m. Sunday, June 9, weather permitting. This work is part of the $51.2 million improvements to two miles of Independence Boulevard (U.S. 74) from Albemarle Road to Wallace Lane in Charlotte.

Contractor Devere Construction will be striping pavement in advance of a future traffic shift which will allow crews to place barrier walls in the median. Work will begin in the eastbound lanes between Sharon Amity Road and Conference Drive. Intermittent lane closures will be necessary to complete this work safely, and will be scheduled at night to minimize impact to traffic. Motorists can expect these closures between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. Sunday through Thursday.

The project will convert this section of Independence Boulevard to an expressway, removing existing traffic signals at Sharon Amity Road and Idlewild Road. The existing six-lane roadway will be widened to include four general purpose lanes and one bus lane in each direction. Bridges, or grade separations, will be built at interchanges with Sharon Amity Road, Idlewild Road, and Conference Drive.

For real-time travel information at any time, call 511, visit www.ncdot.gov/travel or follow NCDOT on Twitter at www.ncdot.gov/travel/twitter. Another option is NCDOT Mobile, a phone-friendly version of the NCDOT website. To access it, type “m.ncdot.gov” into the browser of your smartphone. Then, bookmark it to save for future reference. NCDOT Mobile is compatible with the iPhone, Android and some newer Blackberry phones.

For more information, please contact the senior resident engineer at (704) 845-1151. More details on the project are on the” U.S. 74 Widening and Improvements” project page (U-209B).